The Architecture of Happiness34 reviews Alain De Botton Pantheon, 2006 If a philospher had eyes + My son is enjoying it + thought provoking + The author reflects on architecture             Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed392 reviews Jared Diamond Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 Great book + Another good Diamond take + Collapse of civilizations I read Guns, Germs, and Steel and was so impressed that I bought Collapse. Although it is slightly less engrossing (perhaps because it is about a less uplifting topic), it is still an amazing book.             A Natural History of the Senses60 reviews Diane Ackerman Vintage, 1991 Such a good writer + Fascinating book + Warning: This book could change your life! + The Human Experience + Delightful digressions             A General Theory of Love81 reviews Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, ... Vintage, 2001 What Really Happens When Love Appears + Amazing read + Love Is Irreducible + We need more books on this subject + Not quite a perfect book             Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain16 reviews Maryanne Wolf Harper, 2007 Confirming and Thought-Provoking + Esoteric and Fascinating...... + teachers pet + Helpful and Educatonal Book             The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World212 reviews A. J. Jacobs Simon & Schuster, 2005 Know it AllA. + Chronicle of a Quest to be the "Smartest Person in the World" + Great, interesting read + The Know It All by A.J. JACOBS             Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes110 reviews Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein Abrams Image, 2007 My kind of text! + we loved it; almost a family read + Good for what it is + good effort + Cogent philosophy punctuated with jokes             Stumbling on Happiness207 reviews Daniel Gilbert Knopf, 2006 An Entire Different Look at Happiness + Descriptive (not prescriptive) - helps you deal with other people's (un)happiness + Stumbled On A Great Book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert opens a view of happiness that is not in the normal range. Anticipation, imagination and rationalization are each responsible for much of our happiness. Mr. Gilbert disects the reasons we are happy, the times we are happy, and how we visualize our ...             Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business124 reviews Neil Postman Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 Disinformation Means Misleading Information--Misplaced, Irrelevant, Fragmented or Superficial + The media is the message again + Judge a book by its cover + Intrinsic Value of the Medium + The Magic of Imagery             The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World30 reviews Tim Harford Random House, 2008 Best of the current crop of pop-economic books + Very Readable, and Interesting I've read a lot of books lately on human behavior, the economics of daily life, and game theory. Although "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner is the most famous recent book of pop economics (and I did quite enjoy it), I think the best of the current lot is this one: "The ...             Proust Was a Neuroscientist25 reviews Jonah Lehrer Houghton Mifflin, 2007 I LOVED IT! + Wonderful + A Buffet of Insight One of the most thought-provoking books I've read in a long, long time. It really is just a feast of insight. So many unexpected connections...From Whitman's time as a nurse to Proust's writing habits to how Woolf's mental illness impacted her writing. If you are interested in art and science and ...             Friendship: An Exposé14 reviews Joseph Epstein Houghton Mifflin, 2006 A Book of Pleasure and Utility + Take a deep look at friendship + Friendship: An Expose Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was a teacher of the art of talk, a Roman rhetorician, a lecturer, an admirer of Cicero. While his theories on education during the first century remain largely true even today, Joseph Epstein quotes him on friendship: "The name of the friend seems to me even ...             Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses39 reviews Isabel Allende Harper Perennial, 1999 This memoir hits the spot ! + Luscious, scrumptious and, oh yeah, comforting... + Life, Love, and Food + One of my Absolute Favorite Books + Food for thought and laugh             Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking929 reviews Malcolm Gladwell Back Bay Books, 2007 Our Hidden Programming + The Author is a Genius. He is a Thought Leader. He brings new concepts to debate, to the world. + Good collection of stories Malcolm Gladwell is a "gatekeeper." In his book, Blink, he opens the gate to a room of self-discovery - a room that allows the reader, perhaps for the first time, to realize that our actions and judgments often are not as "objective" as we might think. Mr. Gladwell, through a series of examples ...             The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York7 reviews Chandler Burr Henry Holt and Co., 2008 The Perfect Scent + A Fascinating Journey Into The World of Luxury Fragrance + As Addictive as a Great Perfume + fascinating book + Makes you wish for a scratch and sniff edition!             Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers344 reviews Mary Roach W. W. Norton & Company, 2004 Informative and witty + Wonderful book + An excellent read! + Interesting subject, cadavers! + STIFF - INFORMATIVE AND HUMOROUS             Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind92 reviews V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee Harper Perennial, 1999 Absolutely Fantastic Book + Good for those considering Cognitive Science as a major + And the point is.... + If you're reading this ...             Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness (Kodansha Globe)15 reviews David Weeks, Jamie James Kodansha Globe, 1996 Cheers to an ironic topic! + maybe a little out dated? + Eccentricity at Its Finest. + Their Own Drummers + Eccentrics: Start Your Engines             Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century72 reviews Lauren Slater W. W. Norton & Company, 2005 Opening Skinner's Box + A good read for everyone + Provocative and Deeply Unhinged + Personalizing Psychology             Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty75 reviews Nancy Etcoff Anchor, 2000 In the eye of the beholder + Dissects the science of beauty + Beauty is not Skin Deep + Nicely researched